1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wastewater treatment and, more particularly, to utilizing shear energy to promote breakdown of solid constituents of a wastewater stream.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Wastewater typically comprises solid and liquid constituents. Systems and methods for treating wastewater typically comprise separation of such liquid and solid constituents, the latter typically predominantly organic species that can become waste activated sludge. Some systems and methods further provide treatment of waste activated sludge that reduce the overall solids volume for disposal. For example, Knauer et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,780, teach a method for the disintegrating sewage sludge with mechanical disintegration steps upstream of a decomposition step. The mechanical disintegration method destroys aggregates of cells and suspended materials in a first disintegration step and a separate second disintegration step. The first disintegration step utilizes a rotating wing device and the second disintegration step utilizes an ultrasonic homogenizer.